Reflection about what you are finding, uncovering, questioning, simmering and sifting...............

"People have to allow fear into the process. It's part of creativity, whatever your job. It's part of believing in something and wanting it to happen" (Pierce, 2008).

Artists and speaker Erik Wahl: "We need to study our kids. We should consistently be asking them why, because they don't see things the way we do. They're unblocked and unbound" ( Mayeux, 2008, pp. A7).

Maxwell (2005) refers to Wolcott’s insightful wheelbarrow metaphor in developing a proposal: Make sure all parts are properly in place before tightening (p. 137).

Concerning qualitative work, Hammersley & Atkinson (1995, p. 24 as cited in Maxwell, 2005, p. 2), describe research design as “a reflective process operating through every stage of the project.” Maxwell continues:

The activities of collecting and analyzing data, developing and modifying theory, elaborating or refocusing the research questions, and identifying  and addressing validity threats are usually all going on more or less simultaneously, each influencing the other. This process isn’t adequately represented by a linear model, even one that allows multiple cycles, because in qualitative research there isn’t an unvarying order in which the different tasks or components must be arranged. (p. 2)

Architect Lloyd Wright subscribed that “the design of something must fit not only with its use, but also with its environment. You will need to continually assess how this design is actually working during the research, how it influences and is influenced by its environment, and to make adjustments and changes so that your [research] can accomplish what you want” (Maxwell, 2005, p. 3).

Collecting Rich Data provide “a full and revealing picture of what is going on” (Becker, 1970 as cited in Maxwell, 2005, p. 110). Interviews warrant “verbatim transcripts…not just notes on what you felt was significant. For observations, rich data are the product of detailed, descriptive note taking (or videotaping and transcribing) of the specific, concrete events that you observe (Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995 as cited in Maxwell, 2005, p. 110).

Triangulation – collecting information from diverse range of individuals and settings, using a variety of methods (Maxwell, 2005, p. 112).

 

References

Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. [2^nd ed.]. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol. 41. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Mayeux, D. (2008, October 13). Master painter, business speaker: Erik Wahl encourages professionals to transcend the traditional with creativity. The Daily Times (Farmington, NM), pp. A1, A7.

Pierce, K. (2008 October 13). To make it big in Hollywood, you start with a good story. Newsweek, 152(15), p. 71.